White says Jones hype warranted, though title shot at least one year away

With his UFC on Versus 1 win over Brandon Vera this past Sunday, light heavyweight Jon Jones (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) seems to have elevated his status from “bright prospect” to “developing superstar.”

And there is no bigger fan of Jones than UFC president Dana White, who openly praised the 22-year-old “Bones” following his first-round win.

But despite another impressive performance by Jones in is first-round win, White said he doesn’t believe his newest star is quite ready for title contention.

“He’s not ready for that,” White said. “I’d like to see him get another year under his belt, and in that year, before he got a shot at the title, he’d have to take out Rashad (Evans), ‘Rampage’ (Jackson), possibly ‘Shogun’ (Rua) or (Lyoto) Machida, then get the title shot.”

The light heavyweight division has long been looked at as one of the most competitive in the UFC, and that trend continues today. Jones now owns quality wins over Vera, Jake O’Brien, Stephan Bonnar and Andre Gusmao. The hype surrounding Jones has already reached epic proportions, and White isn’t comfortable calling the New Yorker a title contender, he believes the attention on the fighter is well-deserved.

“The hype is warranted,” White said. “The kid is incredibly talented. Every time I see him fight, he looks phenomenal, and he gets better every time.

“It’s incredible. He’s a serious, serious talent.”

As for Jones, he’s in no rush, either. While he appreciates the attention his past performances have received, Jones is simply focused on bettering himself each time in the cage.

“As far as the hype, I don’t ask for it,” Jones said. “I just train really hard. My ultimate goal is just to be successful and be able to retire one day as a successful mixed martial artist.

“I just try to focus on the things that I can control. I can control my performance. I can control the way I train, how serious I take the sport. I can’t control the hype. I don’t ask for it, but I do appreciate the supporters.”

Jones’ next move is still uncertain. He’s expressed a desire to take a little time off to spend with his family. While Jones has shown the ability to matchup with anyone in the UFC, there’s one opponent that can be immediately ruled out.

White said despite how much he can’t stand seeing the one controversial loss on Jones’ record, he has no desire to arrange a rematch with Matt Hamill.

“The thing that really bums me out about [Jones’] career right now is that one loss on his record,” White said. “It drives me crazy. Every time he gets in the octagon now, I’m going to look and see that one loss on his record, and it’s going to drive me nuts. But even when that happened, the kid took it in stride.

“I don’t think anybody thinks, ‘Oh God, I wonder what would happen in that second fight?'”

For more on UFC on Versus 1, including the night’s official results, check out the UFC Events section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Jon Jones)

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